The present invention is directed to the synthesis of dicyanoformamides having the following structure: ##EQU1## where: R is the organic moiety of the diisocyanate from which the dicyanoformamide is produced and is aromatic, alkyl substituted aromatic, or functionally substituted derivatives thereof.
It has been disclosed by S. Petersen in Annalen der Chemie 562, 205-226 (1949) that a hexamethylene dicyanoformamide is formed by the reaction of hydrogen cyanide with hexamethylene diisocyanate. There is no disclosure, however, of the formation of dicyanoformamides having an aromatic moiety as set forth above. Further, the procedure set forth by S. Peterson in making the aliphatic dicyanoformamides cannot be used to produce a dicyanoformamide having an aromatic moiety.